


Tomorrow we'll figure it out

by Lilliclementi93



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Best Friends, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Love, Love Confessions, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:53:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23788882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilliclementi93/pseuds/Lilliclementi93
Summary: Archie and Betty finally talk about their friendship and what happened between them in the garage.It was just a moment or it will change their relationship forever?
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Comments: 3
Kudos: 62





	Tomorrow we'll figure it out

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so...I stopped watching Riverdale a season ago but then I saw a picture of Betty and Archie from 4x17 and here we are.  
> I remember liking them together so much in season 1 and I'm a sucker for this type of drama eheh ;)
> 
> Sorry for any mistake, English is not my first language and it's been a while since my last story.  
> Have fun and please let me know what you think!  
> #staysafe

He didn’t see much of Betty for the entire weekend—and thankfully he didn’t see much of Veronica either.

After the concert, before he could even approach Betty, she was already gone.

What happened that night in his garage—changed everything. Changed him.

But what now? He didn’t know what to do.

The only thing he knew was that he had to talk to her.

He wasn’t surprised at all when he peeked through his window and saw her curtains closed, but he had to admit that he was a bit hurt-- and he knew that it was a problem.

What if he fucked it all up? Because that kiss meant more to him that he was even prepared to admit— but maybe it wasn’t the same for her.

That morning at school he tried to act normal—be normal. But the truth was the he needed to see her, see her face, know that she was still there-- still his friend at least.

He only saw her at the end of the day, he was walking home when he caught a glimpse of a blonde ponytail.

Before he could run to her, she was gone.

That night at three in the morning when he couldn’t sleep, he decided he had enough. He needed to talk to her. Now.

He got up, turned up the light while taking his phone from his nightstand-- and before thinking about it too much, he wrote a message.

_You up? – Archie Andrews, 3:13 am._

The answer arrived after a few seconds—and his heart started beating faster in his chest.

_Yes. Window? – Betty Cooper, 3:14 am._

He got up and walked to his window just when she turned up her light. When she was finally there, just a few meters away from him, he felt his body relax. He was looking at her, trying to catch a glimpse of her eyes when his phone shook in his hand again.

_Couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t stop thinking. - Betty Cooper, 3:16 am._

He took a big breath.

_Me too. Bets—can we talk? - Archie Andrews, 3:17 am._

_Do you mind a walk? I don’t want to wake anyone. - Betty Cooper, 3:19 am._

_Not at all. - Archie Andrews, 3:20 am._

_Down in 5. - Betty Cooper, 3:21 am._

When he raised his eyes to look at her, she was already gone. He simply put on some jeans, a hoodie and a pair of sneakers. He waited for her on the sidewalk for a few seconds before she sneaked out of the front door without making a sound. Archie smiled when he realized that she opted for a cardigan on top of her pajamas, and he could see little pink dolphins peeking out.

The moment she reached him, he tried to sound normal.

“Everything ok?”

She looked at him, smiling back a little. “Yeah, everyone’s sleeping.”

He nodded. “Good.”

They started walking side by side on the empty, dark street. He looked up at the dark sky only to find it covered with big, dark clouds. After a few minutes of them just walking in silence, they decided to start talking at the same time.

“Look Arch—”

“Betty—"

They both stopped, looking at each other smiling.

“You first.”

She shook her head. “No—you.”

Her voice was calm and soft, and Archie realized with amazement-- that he was nervous. He was never like this with Betty.

“I know that we have a lot to talk about— but I want to start by making something clear.”

They had reached the small park down their street and they stopped walking, both turning to face each other.

He took a deep breath. “I don’t regret what happened the other day.”

And Archie knew just by looking at her face that he had caught her by surprise. She didn’t expect this—and he didn’t give her any reason to think otherwise in the past.

Her eyes widened for a moment, but she remained silent.

“But—I need to know if you do.”

He really did. Before he could even talk about what happened, he needed to know where she stood in all of this—if at least they were on the same page about that.

Betty looked away from him for a moment and he knew she was considering lying to him, but ultimately, she couldn’t.

“No.”

He released the air in his lungs he didn’t even know he was holding. She crossed her arms over her chest, raising her eyes to him.

“What is happening, Arch? I don’t get it—You love Veronica.”

He was about to stop her, because yes, he loved her, but—

“And we’re friends, best friends. We’re not—this.”

He took a step toward her. “Why not?”

She tilted her head to the side a little, her blonde locks dancing around her face. “We’ve been here before, Arch—the night of the black hood—”

He shook his head. “It’s not the same—”

Betty's brows furrowed. “We kissed—I kissed you and we never talked about it. We went on as nothing happened—” She twisted her hands in lap. “I guess I just thought--”

He tried to ignore the hurt clear in her voice, he really tried, but there were so many wrongs in her words—so many things he regretted.

“-- that this time would be the same.” He shook his head. “We should have talked about it then—and it’s my fault we didn’t—”

She lowered her head, looking at her feet. 

Archie took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know what’s happening—I just know that I kissed you because I wanted to, I needed to.”

She shook her head, her voice coming out in a pained whisper. “It was just a moment--”

“No, it wasn’t. I have these feelings—” He passed his hand through his hair, ignoring the way her breath caught in her throat. “It’s been going on for a while Betty, it’s not new. I don’t know why, why now—why like this.”

Her eyes were shining with tears as she took a step back from him. “No—No you can’t do this to me, Arch. It’s not fair. I was the one always trailing behind you. I was always the fool for hoping—”

He tried to argue. “You were never a fool—”

“Yes, I was! I always wanted more out of this—and you didn’t.” She wiped a tear away from her cheek. “I laid my heart out to you four years ago, I told you how I felt about you—about us.”

He watched her eyes close in pain and he felt it right in his chest.

“You rejected me.”

And he regretted it every day after that. She took a breath, and he saw her shoulder deflating like she was tired.

“You told me it was better for the long run-- And I moved on and you did too—”

He nodded, ignoring the way his hands were shaking. “I know—and I’m sorry, Betty.”

He ran his fingers on his face. “I know this is shitty timing. I tried to bury-- this.” He gestured the two of them. “Believe me, for weeks I’ve been telling myself that it was nothing, that it would pass—”

Their eyes locked. “--that my heart doesn’t hurt every time I see you kissing Jug.” This time she didn’t even try to stop the tears from carving a path down her cheeks. “-- I tried to ignore how I missed you, being near you-- ”

Betty shook her head again. “Arch, stop—”

He didn’t. “But deep down I know this isn’t going to disappear this time.”

Archie pressed his palms against his eyes. “The last thing I want is for any of us to get hurt. Least of all you.” And yes, he felt guilty, but not because he kissed her—he felt guilty because he wanted to do it again.

He took a step toward her, searching her eyes. “But I can’t go on like this any longer—it’s killing me.” He took another step.

“Betty, I-I think I lov—”

A sob escaped her mouth. “Don’t—please, don’t say it.” He was in front of her now and she looked away.

“What are we supposed to do now? What—”

He finally broke that invisible wall separating them because he needed to touch her. He took her hand in his.

“Whatever you want.” Their eyes met. “Tell me what to do, what you want—and I’ll do it.”

“Arch—”

He took her other hand in his. “If that’s what you want -- say the word and we’ll never speak of this again.”

They were inches apart now and she was engulfed in his scent. “You would do that?”

He ignored the pain in his chest. “I wanted you to know that I’m serious about this. But for you—yes.”

She was staring at his shirt, ignoring his firm and warm hands around hers. Suddenly Betty was exhausted. She closed her eyes, slowly laying her forehead against his chest. He sighed, kissing her hair. He slowly let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her.

He spoke into her hair. “Bets—”

Before he could say anything else, rain started pouring on them. He took her hand. “Come on.”

They ran towards their houses when he stopped. “Let’s go in my garage, there’s a heater.”

When they were both inside, he turned to her and they both smiled. They were drenched. He quickly lit up the fire, handing her a blanket. “Here.”

She took it. “What about you?”

“I’ll manage.”

He turned to give her a little privacy while she took off her clothes. He stripped off as well, luckily, he had a pair of sweatpants laying there. When he turned, she was clinging the blanket around her, until her eyes looked over his body, and he swore he saw blush coloring her cheeks.

He simply took their clothes and laid them in front of the fire. When he turned, she was sitting on the floor staring at the flames. He slowly sat beside her, not too close to overwhelming her.

He looked at the drops of water falling from her hair. “Are you cold?”

She turned to him. “I’m fine. We took it far worse than this—remember?” She smiled a little.

He smiled back. “Yes, we were playing up on that hill—”

She giggled. “It was too far away so our parents told not to go--”

“But we did it anyway-- the storm came out of nowhere and it started rain like someone was emptying buckets of water on our heads. We stayed curled up under that tree for hours--”

She raised her eyes to his. “Do you remember the look on our parents faces when we walked home?”

“They were about to call the police— they thought we had run away together.” He laughed.

She smiled sadly. “They prohibited us from playing together for the next two weeks—”

“But we talked everyday anyway from our windows.”

He never stopped to fully appreciate how lucky he was, to have had his best friend literally beside him his entire life. He swore to himself to never take that for granted going forward.

“We were so young— it was all so easy.”

He nodded silently. She searched his eyes and he marveled at how easy he could read her emotions.

“—but even then Arch, curled up under that tree with the biggest storm unleashing over us—I felt safe.”

He raised his eyes to hers.

“You always made me feel safe—” Tears were running down her cheeks again. He stopped her. “Betty—you don’t have to--”

“I want to.” She took his hand, never breaking contact with his eyes. “What I said four years ago—that when I feel safest and most myself is when I’m with you—”

A sob escaped her mouth. “That never changed, Arch—and it never will.”

He couldn’t stand the distance any longer. He cradled her face in his hands, wiping away her tears. “Shh. It’s okay, Bets. Don’t cry—”

He touched her forehead with his, shifting closer. She shook her head against his. “I don’t want to hurt anyone—”

He kissed her forehead. “You won’t— We’ll figure this out.”

She shivered again and he made her look at him. “Lay with me.”

They laid down in front of the fire and he cradled her close against him. After a few minutes of silence, she shifted in his arms, her fingers leaving invisible drawings on his skin.

“I need you to promise me something.” Her soft voice trailed up his chest leaving goosebumps.

He looked down at her. “Anything.”

She tilted her up, looking at him. “Promise me that whatever happens between us— we’ll never lose this friendship. I can’t stand the thought of losing you, Arch—”

He wrapped his arms around her more firmly. “You’ll never lose me. I promise.”

“I’m scared of what will happen tomorrow—”

He kissed her hair.

“Be with me tonight, tomorrow we will figure it out.”


End file.
